RAMble, the University Libraries' blog

New Exhibit: Remembering Henrietta Lacks

09/26/2017

Jesse Brody

Biology, Women's & Gender Studies, History, Ethnic Studies, Diversity

The latest library exhibit highlights The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, which the Frederick Douglass Institute (FDI) of West Chester University has chosen as the focus of the One Book program at WCU for 2017-2018.

The book is an extensively researched, reflective first-person work in which Skloot traces the fate of a sample of cancer cells taken in the 1950s from Henrietta Lacks, an impoverished African-American woman, without her consent. The cell line grown from this sample, known as HeLa, became the basis for a huge amount of scientific research as well as a source of profit, while even Lacks’ name was unknown within the scientific community. Intertwined is the history of the Lacks family, before and after her death, and their experiences of poverty, racism, illness, imprisonment, and abuse. This gripping book connects the United State’s history of racism with bioethics, medical ethics, and scientific research.

In Spring 2017, the book was adopted by several courses in the English Department, and engagements across campus and in the broader community are planned for the coming months.

A visit with two members of the Lacks family, Shirley Lacks and Veronica Robinson, will take place on Wednesday, September 27, at 7 pm in the Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets must be reserved at the box office on the ground floor of Sykes Student Union or online at wcupatix.com.

More information about upcoming events is available on the FDI webpage.

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